Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

So the one thing that we heard over and over again when we were starting the moving process to Germany was how we needed to be conscientious of our trash and recycling. That it was a very big part of their culture and we must follow their rules to fit in. No problem says I. Recycling is fun! They sing songs about it on Sesame Street and Yo Gabba Gabba! A 2 year old can do it. Heck WE already do it!

Then we received a copy of the recycling rules from our relocation people.

Sweet heavens above. Now I start to break into a sweat when I think about throwing something away. What if I do it wrong? We hear horror stories of people who put the wrong items into the wrong color coded bin on the curb only to have the mean trash man dump it all out and make them re-sort their items in the street. What have we gotten ourselves into? Fortunately it gets easier with time, the trash man has never even looked in our trash can, and our neighborhood seems to be pretty relaxed when it comes to all of these German "rules" that we were warned about. But I'll admit, I'm looking forward to getting back to the good old USA way of recycling- putting it all into ONE bin and letting THEM do the work.

And now for your entertainment, a discussion of the recycling rules in Germany from a website for expats:

Deposit Bottles:

Over the past several years Germany has introduced a comprehensive deposit system (Pfandsystem) of 25 cents per plastic bottle or aluminum can and eight cents for glass bottles - mostly for beer and mineral water. This deposit system covers all carbonated beverages, water and beer, but it excludes for some strange reason both wine and non-carbonated drinks. To collect your deposit you can bring bottles back to a supermarket or beverage store, most of which now have automated machines. Your best bet is to return them directly to the shop where you bought them, because some stores annoyingly refuse to accept bottles from brands they do not carry.

Glass:

Every piece of glass for which you did not pay a return deposit (Pfand) should be placed in the designated glass bins which can be found throughout all towns and cities. Glass is sorted by color: green, white and brown.

Paper:

Newspapers, magazines, cardboard boxes and any packaging consisting of paper or cardboard belongs in the Altpapierbins. These bins are green or blue, depending on where you live and sometimes only the lid is green or blue. Cardboard boxes should first be flattened before being deposited.

Plastics:

Aluminium, tin cans, plastic wrappings and containers, polystyrene, and objects made of composite materials like beverage cartons or spray cans, belong in the yellow bins. A sure way of knowing what objects belong in the yellow bin is to look for the Green Dot symbol (Grüner Punkt).

Bio-degradable waste:

Kitchen scraps, peels, leftover food, coffee filters, tea bags and trimmings from your garden belong in the brown waste bin labeled Biotonne. This waste accounts for 50% of all the waste produced in Germany.

Old clothes and shoes:

These are regularly picked up at your curb by various charity organizations, who will announce their visit a few days before hand. Otherwise, there are containers for old clothes and shoes set up by commercial companies around the city.

Unwanted appliances, old furniture, and large household objects:

These items are called Sperrmüll in German and are picked up three to four times a year on pre-arranged dates. In some cities you will need to contact your trash collector for a pick-up appointment.

Household waste:

If after all of this throwing away of trash you have anything left, place it in the gray bin, the contents of which are termed Restmüll. This includes cigarette butts, personal hygiene items, textiles, diapers and old kitchen objects.

If you read ALL of that and are still awake without your mouth hanging open, then you my friend, are a better person than I. My eyes glazed over before they even got to plastics.

In the grey containers I sort everything into the following:

Paper, Plastic/Aluminum/etc., Recyclable Glass, Return Deposit Containers

And our Bio container which has been exiled to the porch due to those nasty gnats.